Board Game Lounge Makes Its Way to South Main Village

Food, alcoholic Kool-Aid and 500 board games to play are all part of a new lounge opening on South Main Street.

Game Theory, a board game lounge, will open at the end of this year. The 3,000-square-foot space will be filled with board games like Scrabble, Monopoly, and new games invented by local board game creators.

The lounge will also be a place to eat meat pies, salads and specialty pastries that co-founder Patrick Lai says are perfect to eat while still having one hand free to play. Local craft beer and custom cocktails will also be served.

Lai, who founded Game Theory with his wife, Erika Lai, wanted to create a business in Fort Worth to be closer to home.

“We were born and raised in Fort Worth and our whole family is here,” Patrick said. “We worked in Dallas for a while but wanted to work closer to home, so we founded Game Theory as a way to bring the community together.”

Patrick got his inspiration for Game Theory from a business trip to Canada. There, he visited a board game lounge packed with people playing cards, eating and drinking beer.

“I wanted to bring the two things that I loved into a business,” he said.

Game Theory will keep the historic charm of the South Main Village by incorporating old steel into the lounge.

The lounge will also have Game Guides, or staff members who will help players learn about the board games quicker, as well as custom instruction manuals for each game.

“We didn’t want it to be a place where you have to figure out everything on your own,” Patrick said. “We don’t want people to waste time trying to learn but rather have fun.”